Boneshaker searches for the perfect tagline

That’s the message behind a new campaign from the craft beer brand, developed by its creative AOR, Toronto-based shop Bensimon Byrne.

Owned and produced by Amsterdam Brewing, Boneshaker is an unfiltered India pale ale containing a robust amount of hops, and distinct aromas of grapefruit and pine.

The Ontario-centric effort is anchored by a 60-second online video titled “Endless Slogans.” Over product shots of beer, a narrator rattles off a dozen slogans that could be applied to the brew, such as, “No hip, lots of hop,” ‘This bone train’s leaving for quench town,” and “Unfiltered, just like you.” The spot concludes with the line, “One slogan doesn’t do it justice.” The video is running as pre roll on YouTube and on select men’s lifestyle and entertainment sites.

According to Dan Strasser, creative director at Bensimon Byrne, the team was able to come up with hundreds of slogans for Boneshaker, and the fact they couldn’t decide on just one was the insight that sparked the creative. Since launching in 2012, the beer has earned something of a cult following in its native Ontario, particularly among urban males who “like to drink something that is a bit different, aren’t afraid to try different things, and like to make a bit of a statement with the beer they drink,” Strasser said.

“[Boneshaker is] quite distinct, in everything from its taste to its packaging, so we kept trying to come up with different lines that would take us somewhere,” said Strasser. “We were really liking all of the lines and we realized that for such a different beer, we should really approach it differently… at the same time, we are actually getting in a lot of product and quality cues into the lines.”

The effort is also being supported via digital ads, across social media and through a series of wild postings in 45 Toronto locations near LCBO and Beer Stores. Plans to bring the campaign to TV are also in the works.

The brand is also encouraging fans to come up with their own slogans via a Facebook contest, where participants who submit a slogan have the chance to win a year’s supply of Boneshaker. There’s also a sampling program, and the brand will have a presence at upcoming community beer events, where it’s hoping beer lovers will be inspired to propose their own unique slogans.

“I can’t wait to see where we take it next, [with] this kind of back-and-forth conversation, as opposed to us just talking at our audience,” said Strasser. “We want them to talk back to us and then together maybe we create thousands of slogans, and maybe one day we actually find the right slogan for this beer. It’s this great search for the right slogan for Boneshaker and I think there’s a lot of fun around that.”